Top 20 Edible Mushrooms Popular in South Dakota

1. Dryad's saddle

A familiar sight to spring morel hunters, dryad's saddle is noteworthy for its large size, striking scales, and watermelon-like smell. Similar to other mushrooms in the bracket fungi family, dryad's saddle can be used to make paper. Younger mushrooms are better suited for this purpose due to their smaller and more consistent fibers.

2. Chicken of the woods

Chicken of the woods is very noticeable in hardwood forests, appearing in clusters on standing tree trunks in bright orange and yellow hues that sometimes last through the entire winter. It is a parasite that causes an unfortunate brown heart rot, and is considered a particularly troublesome pest of Yew trees. If the fruitbodies can be seen, the tree is likely already beyond saving.

3. Shaggy mane

The shaggy mane mushroom is commonly found in North American and European grasslands. Some peoples foraged for its young egg-shaped caps, but it has more recently been found to be a bioaccumulator of heavy metals, meaning it pulls toxic metals up from the soil where it grows. As a result, shaggy manes should not be eaten. The mushrooms usually appear in clusters or “fairy rings.”

4. Common stinkhorn

The common stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus) grows incredibly quickly, sometimes nearing 30 cm in a single afternoon. Their caps are pitted in a way which makes them reminiscent of morels. However, there's little mistaking the common stinkhorn for a morel; the former, in addition to sporting a much longer stalk, has a clear and pungent odor.

5. Black-footed polypore

This inedible fungus grows on fallen wood and stumps of deciduous trees. Black-footed polypores have the ability to remain through the winter, as they rot very slowly after releasing their spores. They are thus appreciated for providing a bit of visual interest in winter landscapes.

6. Fan-shaped jelly-fungus

Just as its Latin and the common English names suggest, the fan-shaped jelly-fungus (Dacryopinax spathularia) is a fan-shaped or spatula-shaped jelly-like mushroom. It commonly grows in wood cracks and it sometimes even appears in the cracks of the processed wood and lumber. Despite the word "jelly" in its name, the fan-shaped jelly-fungus is not considered edible.

7. Western giant puffball

The western giant puffball is the largest puffball in North America, reaching up to 70 cm in diameter. It is as large as its European counterpart the Giant puffball (Calvatia gigantea), although it features a more irregular shape than its European cousin.

8. Fairy ring mushroom

Fairy ring mushrooms may dry out completely in the sun, but will “resurrect” during the next rain and regain their ability to make new spores. This is due to a sugar called trehalose which protects their cells. They appear in lawns and fields, sometimes in “fairy ring” configurations.

9. Common laccaria

Common laccaria may sound like a malevolent name for a mushroom, but fret not! This species is so-called because its appearance is highly variable, with individual caps taking on a whole host of colors, from whitish to pinkish to dark brown.

10. Weeping bolete

The weeping bolete features a greasy, sticky cap surface. When young, milky droplets are released through pores on its surface. It appears most commonly beneath Scots pine or other coniferous trees and forms a mutually beneficial relationship with its host.

11. White king bolete

The habitat of the white king bolete is restricted to southwestern North America, but being a warm-weather species, it is most abundant in Arizona and New Mexico. The mushroom was given its scientific name Boletus barrowsii after the self-taught amateur mycologist Charles "Chuck" Barrows, who discovered the species just a few decades ago.

12. Peeling puffball

It is easy to spot as it resembles a puffball but has spines that gradually peel off as it ages. This appearance gave this mushroom its common name "peeling puffball." peeling puffball thrives underneath deciduous and conifer trees, getting its nutrients from decaying plant matter.

13. Common puffball

These puffy mushrooms grow in small groups on the forest floor. Once they're mature, common puffballs turn yellow and "puff out" smoke-like spore clouds when disturbed. Be very careful when identifying these mushrooms, as their young, immature form looks very similar to the lethal Deathcap.

14. Oyster mushroom

Oyster mushrooms grow wild but are also cultivated for sale in supermarkets. They can even be cultivated at home. They will grow on coffee grounds and spent grain, and are occasionally even fashioned into an environmentally-friendly substitute for styrofoam. There are several toxic look-alike species, so it is best to buy these mushrooms at the store.

15. Elm oyster

As its common name suggests, the elm oyster(Hypsizygus ulmarius) is most commonly found fruiting on elm trees. Its scientific name references its tendency to position itself in the higher points of any individual tree. The fruit bodies may grow alone or in small clusters of two or three, and rarely more.

16. Corn smut

With a common name such as "corn smut," it is easy to guess that the most common place to find this crop-devastating fungus is on corn plants. The gall-shaped growths of corn smut (Ustilago maydis) are black in color with hues of grey and white closer to where they attach to the host plant. The corn will develop a scorched appearance, which is actually the smut rot.

17. Scarlet cup

One of the first mushrooms to appear in the spring, the scarlet cup sometimes pops out of snow. Definitely a cool-season mushroom, the scarlet cup also prefers areas with high rainfall. It forms large colonies and it's very abundant. Slugs and various rodents like to feed on this mushroom.

18. Pear-shaped puffball

The mushrooms of this species grow in such tight clusters that they may cover fallen trees and stumps almost entirely in a brownish, puffy coat. Pear-shaped puffballs appear all around the northern hemisphere on decaying hardwoods from fall through winter.

19. Hen-of-the-woods

Often found at the base of oak trees, this clustered fungus grows in distinctive rosettes. It attacks the roots of living hardwood trees. Hen-of-the-woods is considered edible when harvested young, and is cultivated in Japan on top of compressed sawdust.

20. Dryad's saddle